1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a footwear, and particularly to a boot to be used with a runner such as a boot for an ice, inline, or roller skate, cross country ski, snowboard, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The developments of skate boots in the last twenty years have been in the direction of a more rigid boot partly because of the advent of molded plastic shells for the construction of skate boots. Such techniques have allowed a more rigid construction of the uppers, presumably to increase performance, and to improve the protection of the skater. However, there is little consideration for the anatomy or the biomechanics of the foot. The foot is a very complex biomechanical structure with scores of articulates bones, cartilage and muscles. When the foot is encased in a conventional molded plastic shell, little of the mechanical advantages of the complex leverage movements can be transferred to the runner, i.e. blade inline rollers or cross country ski, because of the rigidity of the shell and the instability of the foot within the slipper.
The rigid shell forming the upper, in conventional molded skate boots, is uncomfortable. Various soft inner boots or slippers have been designed for use with such rigid boots to be adapted and to be formed to the foot of the wearer. However, the skate is not therefore responsive to the thrust of the foot. Some of the force being transferred to the foot laterally, or torquewise, is loss due to the movement of the slipper relative to the shell.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a boot which is comfortable while providing stability for the foot, thereby providing a high degree of performance.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a boot which is designed respecting anatomy and biomechanical aspects of the foot.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a boot which has a relatively rigid upper and provided with selected flexible portions to allow suitable flexion extension about the ankle.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a boot which better blocks the foot and ankle in the boot to prevent power loss.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a boot with a rigid shell which surrounds the foot and is in contact with the foot only through selected, strategically located, pads which effectively suspend the foot in the shell.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a rigid toe box for a boot which respects the asymmetric anatomy of the articulated structure of the foot.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a boot upper having a lateral quarter and a medial quarter which are asymmetric and mostly rigid.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a pair of flexible compressible wall portions provided in the lateral and medial quarters but aligned in a plane containing the general flexion and extension movements of the foot in relation to the ankle.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a pair of fastening rows and tongue which extend in the lower part over the vamp, on either side of an axis extending parallel to and between the third and fourth metatarsal bones. The upper part of the lacing is provided on either side of an axis which is aligned with the upper anterior portion of the ankle and which is offset from the axis of the lacing in the lower part thereof.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a tongue which extends from the toe box in the area of the vamp and which is coincident with the lacing on the lower part of the upper and which extends offset to be oriented with the lacing in the upper part of the upper.
It is yet a further aim of the present invention to provide an improved inner sole or foot bed in the boot.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a boot suitable for gliding sports which provides an improvement in comfort, adaptability, foot stability and performance.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a toe box having a rigid one piece shell for a boot having a sole with a toe portion, a heel portion, the toe box having a lower edge coincident with the sole in the toe portion and the rear edge thereof defines the extent of the shell which is asymmetric and has a somewhat parabolic outline between a portion coincident with the joint of the first metatarsal shaft and the respective phalange, and another portion coincident with the joint of the fifth metatarsal bone and the respective phalange.
A construction in accordance with another aspect of the present invention comprises an upper for a boot having a medial quarter and a lateral quarter and defining a first pair of parallel fastening rows along the front edges of each quarters, at least in the vamp area of the boot, and the median axis of the rows extends between the third and fourth metatarsal bones of the foot.
More specifically the front edges of the lateral and medial quarters include a second pair of fastening rows above the first pair that are offset from the first pair and aligned with the anterior portion of the ankle.
In a further construction of the present invention the medial quarter and the lateral quarter are each provided with a flexible compressible area aligned in a common axis which extends in the medial dorsal area and posterior lateral area in order to permit flexion and extension of the foot about the axis of the ankle during the skating action.
In another aspect of the present invention there are provided spaced apart pads fixed to the interior of the upper wherein the pads include at least a medial metatarsal pad between the base and the head of the first metatarsal shaft, in the horizontal, a lateral metatarsal pad near the head of the fifth metatarsal bone, in horizontal, a vamp pad in the dorsal area of the metatarsus and phalange joints, a medial ankle pad having a vertical component and a horizontal component just behind and below the ankle protrusion and an asymmetrical lateral ankle pad having a vertical component and a horizontal component and extending in the boot just behind and below the ankle.
In a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an inner sole being a relatively deep recess in the heel portion of the sole with a 5 varus in the frontal plane, a pronounced parabolic arch extending so that the apex of the arch is at the medial cuneiform while the front of the foot pad has a 7 varus in the frontal plane with the exclusion of the first metatarsal shaft in a cuboid bump relative to the location of the cuboid is provided in the lateral portion of the foot bed.